Christiaan Joubert

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Full name: Christiaan Johannes Jacobus Joubert

Lifespan: 1834 Swartberg, Beaufort, Cape Colony - 1911 Pretoria [77]

Occupation: Politician, farmer

Joubert was a prominent South African statesman and official in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR), widely recognized as one of the co-namers of the city of Johannesburg.

Christiaan Joubert⁶

Timeline

Short biography

At the age of 3 (c.1837), his family trekked from the Cape Colony, seeking to distance themselves from British Rule.

Joubert's father, Petrus Jacobus Joubert (bef. 1786 - 1843) established a missionary station at Zoar, and was one of the religious leaders at the Slag van Bloedrivier (Battle of Blood River).

Christiaan married Johanna Magdalena Cornelia Vermaak (1836 Cape - 1908 Pretoria) in c.1855. They had nine children.

He was only 31 years old (c.1865) when he was elected to the Volksraad as a member for Pretoria. As a member of important public commissions, he quickly drew attention and became a member of the Uitvoerende Raad (Executive Council) of the Z.A.R. in 1881.

He was the head of the government's office of mines (acting minister of mines) during the Witwatersrand Gold Rush. In mid-1886, the ZAR government dispatched Joubert alongside Deputy Surveyor-General Johann Rissik to inspect the newly discovered Witwatersrand goldfields. Their assignment was to declare the region a public diggings and select an official townsite, which they established on the farm Randjeslaagte.

Caricature (c.1891) by unidentified artist.⁶

Joubert served as the Vice State President of the ZAR from 1885 to 1887.

"C. J. Joubert (was) een van die kerkleiers van Witfontein in die dae van die kerkvereniging van 1885."

According to official correspondence preserved by authorities in Pretoria, the city was named Johannesburg to honor both men, as they both shared the name "Johannes" (Johann Rissik and Christiaan Johannes Joubert).

  • In August 1886, Joubert and Deputy Surveyor-General Johann Rissik were dispatched to the goldfields to assess conditions and select a central site, resulting in the official proclamation of Johannesburg as a township on 8 November 1886, which enabled formalized land allocation, sanitation, and municipal governance amid chaotic tent-city expansion.

He owned, amongst other farms, Vermont, between Dullstroom and Lydenburg. His son Christian Joubert Jr. lived on this farm (by 1884). The same son owned a winterplaas (winter farm) on the Steelpoort River (by 1924). Christiaan Sr. also owned the farm Witfontein near Bronkhorstspruit.

  • Christiaan Johannes Jacobus Joubert (1863 - 1943) laid the corner stone of the post-war restored church in Dullstroom.

Christiaan Joubert (Sr.) laid the cornerstone of the pre-war church in Dullstroom. His son (Jr.) laid the cornerstone of the same post-war restored church.

Joubert retired soon after the conclusion of the 2nd Boer War, and passed away in Pretoria.

"Die dubbelverdieping woonhuis van oud. Joubert waarin die Alg. Kerkvergadering van 1890 vergader het, het op die suidoostelike hoek van Boom en Marktstraat (tans Paul Krugerstraat) gestaan."⁵

Sources

  1. Christiaan Johannes Joubert on Grokipedia
  2. Neerlandia. Jaargang 40 (1936)
  3. Christiaan Johannes Jacobus Joubert on Wikitree
  4. Dreyer, J. (1976) Johannesburg eer Christiaan Johannes Joubert. Die Hervormer, Dec 1976.
  5. Die Hervormer, May 1970.
  6. Van Belkum, J. (1928) De vergadering voor kerkvereeniging in Augustus 1891. De Hervormer, Aug 1928.

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